Thursday, November 13, 2008

Throughout the night, groups of revelers moved past the house. When they realized where they were, they stopped and became silent, then they shuffled quickly down the street, making minimal sound until safely out of range, at which point they rekindled their merriment. It was after all, a once in lifetime celebration. Inside the house, all was dark. There once was life moving about in this place but that had been long ago. Now to anyone passing, the house was just a scary old rundown building, a ghost of a what it once had been. Therese was the last living person to see the house in it’s glory. That was over eighty years ago. Now she was a great-grandmother, known as great-grammy to all the neighborhood kids. She stood on the porch of the house, in front of the huge solid oak door, for what she hoped would be the last time. She was tired, ‘age will do that to you’ some might say but in reality her weariness came from a different source. She was tired of carrying her secret. She still had the key to the front door and even after all these years, she knew it would work, because she had tested it countless times over the years, each time turning the key in the lock, hearing it click open and each time that had been as far as she had gotten. Tonight would be different. Tonight, no one would notice and after the flames had consumed this house, no one would ever know her secret. She did not want to face what was inside but she knew this might be her last chance. It must be destroyed. She slowly pushed the door open just enough to allow her entrance and just enough to allow her to bring her pack in too. She did not need a flashlight or any other light, she only needed to use her eyes, her special eyes, the ones he had given her. The thought of him made her shudder. Even after all these years, she was afraid of him, afraid of what he could do to her. She would start in the basement and work her way up from there. There were stairs from the kitchen that led downward, she thought, that will be the best way. As she walked slowly through the parlor, the thought of him came back to her. ‘What if ‘, it seemed to say to her, but that was as far as she allowed it to go. “Get out of my mind,” she hissed softly, “I will never go back to those ways.” She stopped before the kitchen door, took a deep breath, not for courage but rather to relax her and exhaled with a shudder as all her wind left her. She hoped her fear had left too. As she pushed open the kitchen door, she realized her fear had not left. A rush of feelings smacked her in face and her hands began to shake. Something was wrong here, very wrong. She froze in her tracks as if some unseen force held her in place. Her fear rose off the scale. Visibly trembling, she looked down at what she knew would be there. It was. There was a trapping symbol etched on the floor so faint even her eyes had trouble seeing it. In fact, she would not have been able to see it except for its glow. That glow, she knew, signified it had been sprung. She also knew it was meant for only her, but that is not what frightened her the most. She knew only he could have set such a trap. And he was coming, footsteps creaking off the basement staircase told her so. The basement door swung open and a figure appeared. It was him and he was smiling the Cheshire Cat smile. “My, my,” he whispered, “look what I have caught. My long lost love. The one who betrayed me. I have waited a long time for this moment and I am going to savor it.” He pulled out a chair and sat down. He sat thoughtfully gazing at her, using his arm to prop up his chin. “You bastard!” hissed Therese using all the strength she had to make a sound. “I need to shed some light on this sorry site,” he said nonchalantly, “do you mind ?” He clapped his hand and a light on the ceiling turned on. “Do you like it ? I installed it myself. It runs on batteries and a sound sensor.And since the windows are shuttered tight, no one outside of this room can see the light.” He got up and walked over to the frozen figure of Therese. “The neat thing about this trap spell is that not that it holds you tight. The neat thing is that it does not stop me at all.” He reached inside the circle and tapped Therese on the top of her head. “See.” Therese winced at his touch. “Oh, don’t be like that,” he said in mock tones of concern, “I only want the best for you. Here let me take that off your back.” He grabbed her backpack and removed it from her. Surprisingly, he was able to move her arms even though she could not. He set the pack down on the floor besides his chair, then walked back to her. “I am going to give you another gift. You won’t like it but it is for your own good.” He put his hand on her stomach and began to chant softly. Therese felt some energy entering her body. As it spread, Therese began to feel a fiery pain in her joints. Her body began to spasm and she fell to the floor, writhing and in agony. She screamed louder and longer than she ever had in her life. She laid on the floor convulsing like dying animal for an eternity, and then suddenly the pain stopped. She was surprised to find that she could move but that was not the biggest surprise she felt. She felt good, and not just good but better than she had felt in long time, in fact she felt better than she had ever felt. “Look at your hands,” he commanded. She did and was astonished to see no wrinkles, or age spots or swollen joints. She was looking at the hands of a twenty year old. “Feel your face,” he said. She touched her brow, her cheeks; they were smooth, she pulled her hair in front of her eyes, it was blonde again. “What. . .” she said hesitantly, “have you done to me ?” “I have made you young again.” he replied.

2 comments:

This is very intriguing and a great start. I hope that you will live up to the challenge and keep writing. I have been very busy at work, working overtime and long hours even on the weekend. But I love a challenge so I will hope to jump on board soon by doing some writing of my own. I can't wait to read your next segment.

I hope you continue with this. You read it in class and left us hanging on the edges of our seats. Always a good sign, don't you think? Kind of a scary story with a twist of good spiritual connection thrown in. Great combination, makes it so much more interesting. This story has much more to offer us all, so hope there are lots more chapters to follow. I'm hooked, for sure.Bev